The Insider

The Defense Department said today that its fiscal year 2025 military intelligence program budget appropriated by Congress was $27.8 billion, a reduction from the $29.8 billion DOD received in FY-24.

“The total was $27.8 billion, includes supplemental funding, and is aligned to support the Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” DOD said.

The amount is about $400 million less that what DOD had requested.

As in previous years, details of the budget beyond the topline have been classified.

This Tuesday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on major shakeups to the Pentagon's acquisition system and policy shop.

Senators on both sides of the aisle aren't particularly impressed with the proposed reorganization of the Pentagon's policy shop:

Pentagon's new senior policy leadership shake-up rattles Congress

A new Defense Department reorganization of senior policy leaders and their oversight areas is drawing bipartisan rebukes from senior senators, who say Congress has not been informed of major shifts in officials' responsibilities, including the AUKUS security pact between the U.S., U.K. and Australia.

The Pentagon is seeking a sweeping overhaul of its acquisition system:

Pentagon memo signals major acquisition overhaul ahead of Hegseth's speech

A new draft Pentagon memo obtained by Inside Defense outlines what could become the most far-reaching overhaul of the Defense Department's acquisition system in decades, shifting the entire enterprise toward one overriding goal: getting new capabilities to the field faster.

Document: DOD draft memo on acquisition reform

Shipbuilding news:

Hanwha exec: U.S-Korea sub partnership would open new 'allied industrial pathway'

A new partnership between the United States and South Korea to equip the later nation with its own nuclear-powered submarines is a golden opportunity to bolster joint undersea defense capabilities and forge a new "allied industrial pathway," according to Yea Kyung Han, an executive at South Korean defense conglomerate Hanwha.

The Defense Department will receive warrants -- options allowing the federal government rights to purchase a company’s stock for a predetermined price at a later date -- in two companies building rare earth elements:

Rare earth magnet company, critical mineral refinery strike $1.4B deal with Pentagon, Commerce Department

North Carolina-based rare earth magnet maker Vulcan Elements and critical mineral refinery ReElement are teaming up with the federal government on a $1.4 billion partnership to scale the companies' fully domestic rare earth magnet supply chain, Vulcan announced this week.

One of the Air Force's prototype Collaborative Combat Aircraft flew last week for the first time:

Anduril's CCA prototype completes first flight

Anduril Industries' YFQ-44A Collaborative Combat Aircraft flew for the first time today, the Air Force announced, furthering the service's efforts to field swarms of drone wingmen by the end of the decade.

After a three-day test event, shipbuilder HII and defense company Shield AI successfully completed the first major test of an integrated autonomy solution for HII’s ROMULUS unmanned surface vessel, the companies announced Monday.

In October, the two companies integrated Shield AI’s autonomy software framework -- known as its Hivemind enterprise software development kit (SDK) -- with HII’s Odyssey autonomy suite onboard a ROMULUS 20 USV, according to an announcement.

The ROMULUS USV family includes high-endurance, 25+ knot vessels that can operate in the open ocean and are built on commercial-standard hulls.

“This collaboration between HII and Shield AI showcases how adaptable autonomy frameworks can accelerate development,” HII Mission Technologies President Andy Green said. “Using the Hivemind Enterprise SDK, our teams integrated capabilities quickly and effectively. The successful deployment on ROMULUS 20 validates the power of this partnership and paves the way for even greater autonomy across the ROMULUS fleet.”

Shield AI’s Hivemind autonomy software allows unmanned systems to continue operating amid GPS-denied environments, according to the company.

“Through close collaboration with HII and the shared use of Shield AI’s modular, open architecture SDK, we integrated advanced maritime capabilities in less than six weeks -- work that typically takes months or years,” Shield AI Chief Technology Officer Nathan Michael said. “We look forward to continuing to expand multi-domain autonomy together.”

The Army issued a request for information last week seeking potential vendors to produce a high-energy laser weapon system "to protect semi-fixed and maneuver forces” from unmanned aerial systems.

The Enduring-High Energy Laser (E-HEL) would protect forces from groups 1 through 3 UAS, meaning those that weigh less than 1,320 pounds, according to the Oct. 30 solicitation. E-HEL will use a hard kill for groups 1 and 2 UAS, while using one-way attack for group 3 UAS.

The directed-energy office that is housed within the Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office is spearheading the effort.

The E-HEL will need to operate in a “palletized configuration,” or it could be integrated onto a Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, the notice states. The system should be able to track UAS in various types of environments with the use of Forward Area Air Defense.

The Army initially will produce as many as 20 E-HEL systems using a modular open system approach that uses “range proven laser and beam control technologies” -- meaning they have been tested at a government facility. If a technology has not been tested by the government, vendors will still have the opportunity to test it on a range with representatives from the RCCTO directed-energy office.

Last week’s RCCTO solicitation follows an industry day the Army held in Huntsville, AL Sept. 30 to give vendors an overview of the production requirements and get feedback on the E-HEL program.

RCCTO plans to host demonstrations, from Dec. 8-19 and from Jan. 5-30 at Dugway Proving Ground, UT in which vendors will be able to test their products in the presence of Army officials. The service plans to down select a vendor to produce around 20 E-HELs in the second quarter of fiscal year 2026 “or later,” the notice states.

Vendors are asked to respond to the RFI by Nov. 21.

Congress will consider key defense nominees this week, while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is slated to speak about acquisition reform with key defense company leaders.

Tuesday

The Senate Armed Services Committee holds a hearing for several senior Pentagon posts.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies hosts a discussion on the threats to homeland defense depicted in the film “House of Dynamite.”

House Permanent Select Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Jim Himes (D-CT) speaks at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Wednesday

The Atlantic Council hosts a discussion on the “next-generation agenda” for the U.S.-South Korea relationship.

Thursday

The Senate Armed Services Committee holds a hearing for several senior Pentagon posts.

Friday

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is scheduled to address senior leaders of the U.S. defense industry on Pentagon acquisition reform.

American Rheinmetall will put up forward-deployed maintenance sites in Poland to patch up Bradley Fighting Vehicles crippled by Ukrainian combat, the company has announced.

An 18-month, $31 million deal tasks the subsidiary of German-based company Rheinmetall AG with putting together sites for vehicle assessment and repairs near the front lines. The contract was handed down by the Michigan-based National Center for Manufacturing Sciences, a consortium angled toward boosting the domestic industrial base.

“It’s one thing to talk about keeping 100% of your vehicles operational in peacetime,” Mike Milner, who until yesterday was the vice president of business development and strategy at American Rheinmetall, told Inside Defense in an interview. “It’s another thing when you’re fighting for your country’s life and getting every vehicle out there is most important.”

Milner yesterday announced he was stepping into the role of CEO at American Rheinmetall Munitions. As he takes the helm of the munitions portfolio, Chris Haag, who previously served as senior director of business development for the company, will move into Milner’s previous role.

The maintenance sites will take in damaged Bradleys to potentially fix those that aren’t too far gone by plugging in parts from “dumpster diving” for things like electronic boxes from vehicles in long-term storage or from scrap parts salvaged from immobile Bradleys left on the battlefield, according to Milner.

Not all Bradleys will return to the action -- but the idea is, “If you gave me five vehicles, can I make three out of them?” he said.

American Rheinmetall will also have full access to the U.S. supply chain to order parts, according to Milner, as well as to repair and operator manuals needed to fix up the Bradleys, which are supplied to the Army by BAE Systems' U.S. subsidiary.

The demonstration is designed to assess the effectiveness and scalability of the forward-deployed maintenance sites, with the focus being to “bridge the gap” between the battlefield and depot-level repairs, according to the company announcement.

“I don’t think they have that ability, really to repair forward, like we would probably do it as the U.S. Army,” Milner said of Ukraine. “So they don’t have those resources and they also don’t have the technical information on the system itself.”

Sites are expected to start triaging and taking on vehicle repairs in a year and a half -- although it’s not quite clear where in Poland they will be stationed yet.

The Army’s own sustainment of the Bradley has been far from stellar, as the last time the vehicle met the Army’s readiness standard -- a 90% mission capable rate -- was fiscal year 2015, according to the Government Accountability Office.

As of January, the U.S. military had provided Ukraine with more than 300 Bradleys and four Bradley Fire Support Team vehicles, according to a Ukraine aid fact sheet.

This Thursday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the White House moving money around to pay military troops their wages, plus submarine coverage and more.

We start off with coverage of how the administration is working to keep military troops paid during the shutdown:

White House raiding reconciliation funds and DOD weapons accounts to pay troops

The Trump administration plans to divert a total of $5.3 billion from the Pentagon's war chest -- including procurement programs -- to pay U.S. troops amid the ongoing government shutdown, according to a White House official.

Submarine news:

Trump: South Korea will build nuclear-powered sub in U.S.

President Trump said South Korea will build a nuclear-powered submarine in Philadelphia and indicated the United States will share closely guarded technical information on nuclear propulsion with its Indo-Pacific ally.

Future submarine contract negotiations not currently impacted by shutdown, HII CEO says

The ongoing government shutdown and subsequent federal worker furloughs have not impacted negotiations for impending block VI Virginia-class submarines and Columbia-class contracts, HII CEO Chris Kastner told investors this week.

Keep an eye out for a major acquisition reform speech the defense secretary is slated to make late next week:

New FMS reform will see DSCA moved under acquisition chief

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is planning to soon announce a key reform to the U.S. foreign military sales process that will move the Defense Security Cooperation Agency out from under the purview of the Pentagon's policy shop and place it under the supervision of the acquisition chief, according to several sources.

Oshkosh is still making money on the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle program:

DOD hands Oshkosh $25 million for JLTV software access

Despite losing out on the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle program more than two years ago, Oshkosh has won an additional $25 million from the Pentagon in exchange for access to intellectual property related to the JLTV, company leaders reported during a quarterly earnings call this week.

The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, designed by the Missile Defense Agency and built by Lockheed Martin, lacks the supplier redundancy that now underpins other missile lines such as Lockheed's variant of the Patriot missile, the PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement:

Lockheed Martin seeks second sources worldwide to boost THAAD missile output

Lockheed Martin is partnering with the Missile Defense Agency to identify new suppliers worldwide for its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense interceptor, a push executives say is essential to meeting record demand for missile defense systems and strengthening fragile production lines.

Boeing is looking to replace workers currently on strike:

Boeing 'accelerating' efforts to permanently replace striking workers in St. Louis

After a nearly three-month stalemate between Boeing and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the company is now intensifying plans to hire permanent replacement workers across several of its production facilities in the St. Louis area, according to an internal memo obtained by Inside Defense.